The emotions of the Ning Family cultivators began to unravel.
"Everyone, shut up!" Ning Zhanji decisively shouted, "If Zheng Shuanggou really means us harm, there's no way we can escape from here."
"But the likelihood of that is too small. If they really wanted to act against us, why would they bother us now? To alert the enemy prematurely?"
"We wouldn't be their primary target!"
Ning Zhanji, having slightly stabilized his emotions, saw a figure wielding two hooks, breaking through countless demon beasts and charging toward one of the passages.
"It's Zheng Shuanggou!"
"I saw his signature weapon, the Sun and Moon Hooks."
"Hmph, he's not here to deal with us!"
Just as the Ning Family cultivators relaxed, their hearts jumped again the next moment.
The intensity of the demon beasts' assault drastically increased, adding immense pressure to the formation's defense. Ning Zhanji had no choice but to order his subordinates to form small groups and fight outside the formation to relieve the pressure.
After all, the formation had been hastily set up and was not sturdy.
The demon beasts were fierce!
Even though the Ning Family cultivators fought desperately, the first ice wall was quickly broken.
The second barrier also didn't hold for long.
Fortunately, the Ning Family cultivators managed to set up a fourth formation in time.
The group huddled in the light column, defending with difficulty.
Ning Yong's face was deathly pale, his body trembling, "Are we really going to die here today?"
Ning Chen was also panicking, his face flustered, completely at a loss.
Ning Zhuo showed a similar expression, but a dark gleam flickered in his eyes.
Boom, boom, boom!
Three sudden explosions rocked the ground.
The demon beasts scattered frantically as a black figure smashed through the wall and rushed into the underground plaza.
Zheng Shuanggou, a Golden Core cultivator from the Zheng Family, followed in pursuit.
"Scoundrel, how dare you covet the Immortal Palace? Leave your life here!" Zheng Shuanggou roared.
Zheng Shuanggou slashed with all his might, sending out a five-meter-long blade aura.
The black shadow, with an old voice, let out a sinister laugh, "The treasures of the Cultivation World belong to those with fate. Your Fire Persimmon Immortal City's noble families want to monopolize the Magma Fairy Palace? Dream on!"
As he spoke, the black shadow clashed head-on, dispersing the blade aura and using the force to fly backward toward the Ning Family cultivators.
A warning bell rang furiously in Ning Zhanji's mind. He retreated to the center of the formation, shouting, "I'll oversee the grand array!"
The defensive formation erupted with unprecedented brilliance.
The black shadow reached the edge of the formation, lightly waved his hand, and instantly shattered the array.
With another wave, a large swath of cultivators fell, their bodies unscathed but lifeless.
"Demon cultivator, still so rampant!" Zheng Shuanggou roared in anger, charging forward.
The Black Shadow Demon Cultivator turned back to engage in a fierce battle with Zheng Shuanggou.
"Master Ning Zhanji!" the Ning Family cultivators shouted.
But Ning Zhanji, eyes wide open, fell to the ground, dead with a look of resentment.
Without the protection of the formation and no leader, the demon beasts continued to attack, pushing the Ning Family cultivators to scatter!
Casualties quickly mounted.
In the desperate moment, Ning Zhuo suddenly shouted, "Go through the passage the Golden Core cultivators came from; there must be the fewest demon beasts there!!"
Prompted, the bewildered Ning Family cultivators jolted to action.
"Right!"
"That passage has been cleared twice by the Golden Core cultivators; there must be the fewest demon beasts."
"Let's go there!!"
The Ning Family group once again united, charging toward the passage entrance.
"Ning Yong, Ning Chen, stick close to me!" Ning Zhuo opened his arms, taking out a handful of Frost Talismans and scattering them around. These were the products of his talisman-making practice, long accumulated in his studies.
Ning Yong and Ning Chen, their eyes bloodshot, instinctively followed behind Ning Zhuo in their panic, fighting with all their might to survive.
The three supported each other, narrowly keeping up with the larger Ning Family group as they entered the passage.
Looking back, the two Golden Core cultivators fought fiercely, causing the demon beasts to flee in all directions.
Many demon beasts fled in the same direction as the Ning Family members, attacking from behind.
The passage ahead was filled with demon beast corpses, with few survivors, but more demon beasts were flooding in from behind.
Under this pressure, the Ning Family cultivators could only grit their teeth and run desperately along the passage.
"Kill! Kill! Kill!"
Along the way, they encountered some demon beasts trying to block their path, all of which were frenziedly slaughtered by the desperate Ning Family cultivators.
"Is that...?"
"The Magma Fairy Palace!"
"We didn't expect this passage to lead to the Magma Fairy Palace."
The Ning Family cultivators discovered a magma lake, with the Immortal Palace buildings barely showing a corner.
"The Magma Fairy Palace..." Ning Zhuo murmured, his expression quite natural. As an ordinary young man, seeing an Immortal Palace for the first time, his mind couldn't help but be captivated. However, no one noticed the sudden gleam in his eyes!
In fact, he had foreseen this outcome.
Ning Chen, catching his breath nearby, realized, "This wasn't hard to guess!"
"When the two Golden Core cultivators clashed earlier, their words already gave away the answer, didn't they?"
"It's likely that the Black Shadow Demon Cultivator wanted to sneak in but was intercepted by Zheng Shuanggou!"
The Ning Family cultivators found themselves in a dilemma.
In front of them was the magma lake with a corner of the Immortal Palace exposed, while behind them, the demon beasts kept coming.
With no other choice, the remaining Ning Family members had to form a defensive formation again.
They set up two formations, one inside the other, interlocked. The ferocity of the demon beast attacks here was much weaker than inside the underground plaza.
"We can hold them off!!" The Ning Family cultivators had just rejoiced when a violent explosion echoed through the air.
"Where do you think you're going?!" Zheng Shuanggou's roar grew closer.
The Ning Family cultivators felt a chill down their spines. From the sounds, it was clear that the Black Shadow Demon Cultivator had returned!
"Looks like we're doomed today!" Ning Yong's face turned ashen.
Ning Chen closed his eyes, completely hopeless.
Just as a glimmer of hope for survival had been ignited, it was mercilessly extinguished again. The drastic emotional roller coaster had drained the fighting spirit of the two novice cultivators.
"So be it! What does it matter?" Ning Zhuo suddenly shouted, "Dying in battle is better than dying miserably!"
Spurred by this, Ning Yong's face changed. In the face of despair, he regained his courage and stood up with gritted teeth.
Ning Chen opened his eyes, looking at Ning Zhuo, silently admiring his friend's bravery in the face of death.
He, too, found his courage, "A Zhuo, well said! Dying by the hands of a Golden Core or in front of the Magma Fairy Palace, it's still an honorable death."
As his voice fell, thick smoke billowed in. The smoke was pitch black, filled with dark energy, obscuring divine sense.
In an instant, shadows moved within the smoke, forming countless shadow serpents that crashed towards the Magma Fairy Palace in the lake.
But midway through the assault, the terrifying giant serpents dissipated powerlessly.
Zheng Shuanggou's shout echoed, "Attack the palace? Not a chance!!"
But then, the shadow serpents reformed, this time attacking the surrounding passage walls instead.
Under this frenzied assault, the passage walls cracked and crumbled, on the brink of collapse.
"Madman!" Watching this, Zheng Shuanggou felt a chill in his heart.
He had no choice but to switch to defense, channeling all his mana to cover and protect the passage.
Within the black smoke, a shadow serpent suddenly crashed into the Ning Family's formation.
Unsurprisingly, an attack at the Golden Core level was something the Ning Family's formation couldn't withstand. It shattered instantly!
The black smoke surged, obscuring the Ning Family's view completely.
"Come on!" Ning Yong shouted, mustering all his courage, resolved to fight to the death.
Thick black smoke, impenetrable to the eye.
Ning Zhuo seemed to find himself alone in an instant.
He pulled out a token, transforming into the Iron Han Armor. The armor enveloped him, immediately giving him the strength of a Foundation Establishment cultivator!